Black Poetry : Does Black History Month Mean as much as it Once Did?

[baller]

We should make and take every opportunity to teach our own children and any black child we cross paths with.

to each one, teach one...or two...or three...and so on. coz it is our responsibility...and, either Black History should be taught in the elementary school system, or all the history books should be rewritten to reflect the truth.

THANKS for the drive by, Coco. always a pleasure.

 

[baller]

American History is their story...told the way they want it...white washing anything that sheds any negativity on them. it's not about the truth...it's about what makes them look good. that's why, as you listen to the re-creators of the civil war, they tell you slavery had nothing to do with it. that's why, you only hear them talking about jim crow's tyranny in movies. that's why, when they look back on the deaths of so many young black men by police officers, they will have been killed because they were desperados that needed to be taken down...instead of the innocents they were, who were gunned down by despicable characters in uniform, with a badge and a gun. it's their story to tell as they see fit...in ways that make them the shining light of humanity.

let us tell the truth.

Now it is seemingly all common knowledge, yet the youth today probably don't care, or care to pay attention... that next text message is too exhilarating! (Technology, yeah; but that goes both ways)

and they will lose themselves in it.

i'm not saying that technology is bad, it's not. but there are more important things that our youth are so not interested in.

THANKS for the input, UBNaturally.
'preciate it.

 

[HODEE]

I see both sides of the proverbial coin on this issue. For I refused to believe we can be marginalized to footnotes. Yet just as I wear my blackness daily, I believe it's not for our rememberance that black history month is celebrated. It is for others to take note. I love Poetry that intrigues my mental.


Nice flow

I believe it's not for our rememberance that black history month is celebrated. It is for others to take note.

I see what you mean here. Black History Month is for others to take note. It is for our young children, so they will take and know OUR more recent past. IT is our story. It becomes part of their perspective and knowing that continues to build for us all. That view and take will give them a seed. It reminds us that the struggle is not over. We have not yet reached a pinnacle of what we can really accomplished. it is a dream. it is not only Martin Luther's dream. It is a renewal dream. A reminder that we have not yet overcome.

Human nature is to move forward hopefully into the next demand. of our day, time and attention.
and those who would ordinarily be consumed with month in, month out bombardments of things. You know those things that always come up. Pressures it seems from many sides. will stop and reflect again. renewing in heart and spirit a struggle that is real, current and on-going still.

So take that Month. use it to teach, about all of our History. Martin has one Birthday! yet many are lost that month.. only focusing on the freedom ride. If the Month is to be used. It is on every station in America. Make part of it a NEW INNOVATION MONTH. Black PROGRESS MONTH.. they dare not turn the camera away. The rest of the world will see. shame.. shame..

 

[HODEE]

O, Brother HH, like you, I've heard the call of the drumbeat...and the echo of long ago weeps. I've lived the rise of the African's pride...and know the story of our people. There was a call for a day...a week...and then a month. WHY DID WE STOP THE CALL? Why are we still limited to that month, in which we're all lumped? And why are our children losing interest in those twenty eight days...and ALL the GREAT LIVES gave...that make up our history tree? Like you, i'll never forget that. but as our children grow farther and farther away from our February month, will they not soon forget? Have you asked a young one, "Who is Dr. Carter G. Woodson?" Of course, they know who Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. is, but do they know who Medgar Evers is? Two generations forward, will we only have a handful who know the names you've mentioned?

THAT IS THE QUESTION:

Does Black History Month mean as much, today, as it did yesterday?

I understand just what you state here. It is true. It is possible if not already happening.

And why are our children losing interest in those twenty eight days...and ALL the GREAT LIVES gave...that make up our history tree? Like you, i'll never forget that. but as our children grow farther and farther away from our February month, will they not soon forget?

I talked with mine. I took them to Atlanta, to Martin Luther's House where he was raised. I been there. To me it was special. When I was about ten years old. I watched unrestricted television. I watched the police brutality, and understood that it is very wrong to sic a dog on someone. I cut Martin Luther's photo out of a LIFE magazine cover. Asked my Father to frame it and he did a nice frame. That picture is still prominently displayed on a wall at my Brothers home. I knew that man was someone special and was stating something that was needed and that made a big difference to and for all of our lives to this day.

I read his biography, and listened to his speeches. I am reminded that the struggle continues.

Our children may be losing interest. They are being distracted. They not being protected, and told about what their parents see and know. Parenting is not hard and is never ending.
They are being distracted by things like technology. By a school schedule and a regiment of daily routine heavier than we have on us as adults. Up by six or seven.. everyday for months. Pulling a seven hour day, or more day. Extra-curricular activities added.. the day is busy for our young. It is said to do this to keep idle hands busy.

It in some ways is to keep the mind idle and distracted. So that stuff in a good moderation is good for them.

And why are our children losing interest in those twenty eight days...and ALL the GREAT LIVES gave...that make up our history tree? Like you, i'll never forget that. but as our children grow farther and farther away from our February month, will they not soon forget?

No we won't let them forget. That is why the MONTH is important. In that month, like any day of the year or out lives. talk with your children, tell of things, people, places. take them if possible. Get them ready, for a world we wont be around to help them maneuver. Over all.. keep up the information flow. As facebook and other ways we connect come into what I will term real focus. Has in some respects play into fulfilled Martin Luther's King's Dream and statement. We will join hands. Not seeing how, we have and we are doing that.

Joining hands in a literal sense means being able to share, influence and come into the small time and space of someones life and share.
http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/us/definition/american_english/hand?q=hands

Link; connect: Unite to form one entity or group: = JOIN
(hands) Used in reference to the power to direct somethingusually a hand) An active role in influencing something:







Speeches hardly heard.. and AMERICA had to silence.

 

[baller]

my brother and I have copies of MLK, Jr.'s speeches. Like MLK, Jr., my brother's birthday is January 15th. On his birthday, he listens to those speeches. Whenever we get together, at some point those speeches come out. During Black History Month, we listen to those speeches. They're powerful...and we should never forget them...or what brought them about.

When I was in the military--Air Force--I was always a member of a base organization, The African-American Association. During Black History Month, we always put on functions throughout the month...to promote Black History; to educate those in the community; to start conversations about equality. Once I was out of the military--I got out in L.A.--I joined a local organization, to continue that theme. I left Calli in '95, for Albuquerque, NM., where I joined the NAACP. Eventually, I discovered that that chapter was corrupt...and I left it. After that, I stayed away from national organizations, opting for smaller, more intimate groups...who had specific objectives. In '02, back in Mississippi, I co-founded a group called "Men of Action." Our focus was on teaching boys/young men, to be responsible men. the group has since disbanned--a group of Christian men came into the group, and tried to turn it into an extension of the church...and, essentially, tore them apart; I had already moved out of state by then...and was hurt that it came to that.

I said all that to say, i'm all about enlightening my young brethren. it's just getting so hard to keep them focused on the right things. sometimes, it's even harder to keep us--grown ups--focused on the right thing.

THANKS for keeping the faith, HODEE...and for STANDing UP.